MGMT Grapple with the President of France

Because grappling with Dubya just isn't the same anymore

Psych-pop duo MGMT don't exactly scream "politics"-- unless there happens to be a referendum on glittery stuffed dogs or vaguely Native American duds in the works, we're guessing these guys don't download Rachel Maddow podcasts on the regular. But the pair are now in the middle of a contentious copyright battle with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, according to Agence France Presse.

AFP reports that Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement party used MGMT's song "Kids" at its national congress in January and in a couple online videos. Thing is, the party never asked MGMT for permission to use the song. And the band is crying foul.

"We are dealing with acts of counterfeiting, an infringement of intellectual property," said the band's French lawyer, Isabelle Wekstein, in an interview with AFP. (Yes, MGMT have a French lawyer.) The UMP owned up to their mistake and "has offered the band one euro (1.25 dollars) in symbolic damages for copyright infringement," says AFP. But Wekstein called the symbolic gesture "insulting" and threatened to sue the party if the band's compensation demands aren't met.

There's an extra dose of irony involved in this particular case of artist vs. politician. As AFP reports, Sarkozy's party is a week away from presenting a new anti-filesharing bill to France's parliament. "It seems that those who led the charge against internet users are not the most respectful of copyright," said Wekstein to AFP, spotlighting said irony.

Does the UMP get any credit for trying to appeal to young adults with a song about little kids by a band that is-- in politician-music-taste terms, at least-- pretty cool? Is MGMT vs. Sarkozy the new Springsteen vs. Reagan? Probably not, but we've got to give it up to the dudes in the feathers for doing a great job of picking their political spot here.